Good Problem to Have - Updated with Pics finally

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lukem

Minister of Fire
Jan 12, 2010
3,668
Indiana
My Brother-in-Law's mother is having a large oak tree dropped in her yard. My BIL calls me up and asks if I want the wood..."sure". He asks my how big my saw bar is..."20 inches". "Hmmm" he says, "that's not big enough...this tree is pretty big". I say, "I can probably cut up to 38" with that if I cut from both sides...so we should be fine". He replies, "Umm...yeah...that's still not even close to big enough". I ask "how big is this thing?"...."I don't know, but at least 50. It's going to be about 6 loads, if not more".

Not sure how I'm going to get the trunk bucked up; might have the tree service work it with the big guns.

And here I was thinking I was done processing wood until fall seeing as how I now have 15 cord in the stack. Damn the luck.
 
Yep, but that is just too good to pass up!
 
lukem said:
My Brother-in-Law's mother is having a large oak tree dropped in her yard. My BIL calls me up and asks if I want the wood..."sure". He asks my how big my saw bar is..."20 inches". "Hmmm" he says, "that's not big enough...this tree is pretty big". I say, "I can probably cut up to 38" with that if I cut from both sides...so we should be fine". He replies, "Umm...yeah...that's still not even close to big enough". I ask "how big is this thing?"...."I don't know, but at least 50. It's going to be about 6 loads, if not more".

Not sure how I'm going to get the trunk bucked up; might have the tree service work it with the big guns.

And here I was thinking I was done processing wood until fall seeing as how I now have 15 cord in the stack. Damn the luck.





lukem nice score. Give old Smokin a call I'm sure that 880 wOOd do a job on that Oak.



Zap
 
zapny said:
lukem said:
My Brother-in-Law's mother is having a large oak tree dropped in her yard. My BIL calls me up and asks if I want the wood..."sure". He asks my how big my saw bar is..."20 inches". "Hmmm" he says, "that's not big enough...this tree is pretty big". I say, "I can probably cut up to 38" with that if I cut from both sides...so we should be fine". He replies, "Umm...yeah...that's still not even close to big enough". I ask "how big is this thing?"...."I don't know, but at least 50. It's going to be about 6 loads, if not more".

Not sure how I'm going to get the trunk bucked up; might have the tree service work it with the big guns.

And here I was thinking I was done processing wood until fall seeing as how I now have 15 cord in the stack. Damn the luck.





lukem nice score. Give old Smokin a call I'm sure that 880 wOOd do a job on that Oak.



Zap

I haven't seen it, but you could probably get some awesome slabs out of it!
 
My BIL called me back and said we may have an issue...The tree service guy came out and quoted topping the tree. He won't touch the trunk because he doesn't have the equipment to get something that big down. 63" DBH. He's placing a call to another tree guy to see if he's willing/able.

That's about 1.5 cord just in 8' of the base of the tree...Tree guy estimates 4-6 cord just out of the one tree.
 
Great oak to have! Can you perhaps rent a saw to cut it? Are there any loggers in the area who might cut it up for you?
 
Well, I wen band looked at this monster over the weekend. It is the biggest tree I've ever seen in Indiana. There is probably two cord in the branches, but the trunk is what is truly amazing. About 20+ feet of clear 50-60 inch red oak. It sits right on the woodline. If it is not hollow they are going to contact a local lumber mill. If it is soft in the middle, the trunk is mine too.

I can borrow a 461 with a 32" bar from a friend. Not sure if that will work, but I'll try it if needed. Called a few rental places looking for a saw with a 40" plus bar and basically got laughed at..."what the hell do you need something like that for???" was the typical response. Biggest I could find was 28.

It's a shame it has to come down. I think lightning got it as branches on one side are dying and it now threatens the owner's house.
 
..............where's the pics???????? :)
 
lukem said:
Well, I wen band looked at this monster over the weekend. It is the biggest tree I've ever seen in Indiana. There is probably two cord in the branches, but the trunk is what is truly amazing. About 20+ feet of clear 50-60 inch red oak. It sits right on the woodline. If it is not hollow they are going to contact a local lumber mill. If it is soft in the middle, the trunk is mine too.

I can borrow a 461 with a 32" bar from a friend. Not sure if that will work, but I'll try it if needed. Called a few rental places looking for a saw with a 40" plus bar and basically got laughed at..."what the hell do you need something like that for???" was the typical response. Biggest I could find was 28.

It's a shame it has to come down. I think lightning got it as branches on one side are dying and it now threatens the owner's house.

Threatening a house? Personally, I'd let them find a good tree service guy to take it down...and volunteer to get rid of the wood. It sounds like it is a monster and I know I wouldn't tackle felling that tree...even if it was in an open pasture!!! That thing has to be humongous!!!!

I've got a big red oak down in a pasture that I haven't look at yet. It's on my cousins property. From the sound of it it's going to be a big'un...I'll walk lightly around that one and it's *already* down.

Ed
 
Tree service is dropping everthing but the trunk. After that is done it won't reach the house.
 
Big oak trunks are an issue all on there own! Big Gunns is right! My 460 will do it but thats working it very very hard at a 50 inch oak! Biggest I have done is a 14 ft 44 inch red oak. 13 man hour trunk alone! Good Luck! (That Fresh chains ever couple cuts) %-P
 
lukem said:
Holy Smokes!! :bug:
I never have figured out what DBH stands for. I have a funny guess, though... :)
 
smokinjay said:
Big oak trunks are an issue all on there own! Big Gunns is right! My 460 will do it but thats working it very very hard at a 50 inch oak! Biggest I have done is a 14 ft 44 inch red oak. 13 man hour trunk alone! Good Luck! (That Fresh chains ever couple cuts) %-P
they are and issue. I cut uP about a 60 inch oak trunk last fall and boy was that fun to split. Tons of knits and twists. Really sucked. The only plus was the two cords I got out of just the trunk. The branches were fine as they were like normal trees.
 
ecocavalier02 said:
smokinjay said:
Big oak trunks are an issue all on there own! Big Gunns is right! My 460 will do it but thats working it very very hard at a 50 inch oak! Biggest I have done is a 14 ft 44 inch red oak. 13 man hour trunk alone! Good Luck! (That Fresh chains ever couple cuts) %-P
they are and issue. I cut uP about a 60 inch oak trunk last fall and boy was that fun to split. Tons of knits and twists. Really sucked. The only plus was the two cords I got out of just the trunk. The branches were fine as they were like normal trees.

Yep. Even though they might look nice and straight, those trees are a couple hundred years old. Somewhere in there is a big ole twist. But when you do get done busting up one of those rounds, you look at the pile of splits and realize it's two weeks' worth of firewood ;-).

One thing I've found, knowing you're going to run into metal, is to keep a close eye on the sawdust coming out of the cut. When it turns black, you are close to old embedded metal. Maybe you can stop in time to save a chain.
 
Woody Stover said:
lukem said:
Holy Smokes!! :bug:
I never have figured out what DBH stands for. I have a funny guess, though... :)

I didn't know either so I just looked it up. Here it is from wikipedia

Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree.
 
wannabegreener said:
Woody Stover said:
lukem said:
I never have figured out what DBH stands for. I have a funny guess, though... :)

I didn't know either so I just looked it up. Here it is from wikipedia

Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree.
OK, that's the women's measurement. I was thinking of the men's measurement. :lol:

Thanks, wbg!
 
Tree cam down today, trunk is solid so it may go to the mill. Will go check it out tomorrow and snap some pics.
 
I picked two loads of the limbs this morning. Two of the limbs had to be cut from boths sides with my 20" bar and noodle the rounds to get them on the truck. I probably have about four more loads left. Should work out to about 3 cord once it is all said and done.

There's one limb that is too big for my bar...will have to wittle away at it I guess.

I have a bunch of pics on my phone, but will have to resize them on PC before I can post them.

On a related note, I treated myself to a new chain for this job. A Stihl full comp full chisel...cuts the oak like butter. Making quick work of it in this hot weather was worth the spend.
 
Sounds like you'll have quite a bit of wood, even without the trunk. Congrats
 
Here are a few pics:

Tree with a 361 and 20" bar sitting a couple feet in front of it. First truck load with security (dog). Two loads of rounds from distance. Last years 6 cord oak scrounge c/s/s to keep it company.
 

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big tree, nice job. love your security detail.

Should make for some nice slabs.
 
Great stuff. That's like money earning interest (better than you'd get nowadays lol) in a bank.
 
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